there. some of the family had gone home but there's plenty of family around him. >> we wish him a complete recovery. we'll stay in close touch with you because you're very close with the family. jamie, thanks for that update, appreciate it very much. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. outfront next, breaking news. dr. ronny jackson not withdrawing for now as he faces serious allegations. trump standing by his man, but is he offering him a way out? plus trump calling north korea's brutal dictator a man who's accused of having his own brother assassinated, open and honorable. what happened to fire and fury and little rocket man? and the first trump state dinner happening at this moment. people are arriving with the full pomp and circumstance. it's all about trump and macron and the special relationship, and trump brushing off the french president's dandruff. let's go outfront.

and good evening, i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, the breaking news. this is the north portico of the white house and as i said this is the first state dinner at the white house. the president of the united states anticipated to be arriving with melania trump and the french president and his wife any moment. brigit and emmanuel macron. we've seen some arrivals already. the treasury secretary and his wife along with ivanka and jared trump. you have the full military array there and the president anticipated to be arriving momentarily. obviously this is the first state dinner. it is what has come of a very close relationship between two very unlikely men with completely different political points of view. one aged 40, the other aged 72. it's a pretty incredible relationship that has developed between those two men and now their wives as well. it is a small state dinner relative to the prior ones that we saw with president george w.

bush and barack obama. this guest list we understand to be only about 130 people, much smaller, as i said, than those other state dinners. congressional democrats not invited, which is a real break from tradition. usually this is a bipartisan public event. not at all the case of what we're seeing tonight. just one known democrat going to be there, a democratic governor. melania trump herself has been very involved with the specifics and the formalities, the logistics and exactly what you're going to see tonight. very serious issues are at stake for this very most important of dinners. macron saying he had convinced the president how to act in syria, to keep troops in syria. macron wants to keep the united states in the iranian nuclear deal to convince the president to come on his side. the president calling that deal terrible, insane sand railwand and indicating he may still go along with the french position. jeff zeleny joins me from the white house. we anticipate the president, the

first lady, the president of france and his wife. this is a very important dinner tonight. >> reporter: it is indeed, erin, good evening. we are watching and waiting for the french president to drive in the north gates here at the white house. they're staying just down the block here at the blair house. of course the house for all visiting dignitariedignitaries. we've been watching with interest throughout the day, watching in realtime as this relationship develops between the presidents from both countries here. you ask people why they seem to have such a close relationship. the main answer, erin, is this. emmanuel macron is a new leader. he is one of the few new leaders that president trump is dealing with. he does not have an old history with president obama or president bush. this is a new relationship. president trump is clearly seized upon that and the macrons seized upon the trumps as well. we have watched them throughout the day. they had dinner last evening at mt. vernon, they'll have the state dinner this evening. tomorrow it is going to culminate with a speech on

capitol hill to a joint session of congress. i was at the news conference today in the east room watching the relationship, watching them hug each other, giving them a handshake. beyond that it certainly belies some major, major differences. you could hear president macron sort of weaving those into his conversation, about climate change, about the economy, particularly iran, as you said. there is a sense here that he's trying to pull the president of the united states into a new way on iran, a different type of agreement after the president is likely to reject the agreement next month to pull the u.s. out. president macron is trying to find another way here, a supplemental agreement. the question is why would iran go for that? >> right. >> reporter: so after the pomp and circumstance, we're going to hear tonight, certainly i'm not sure anything has change ed substancewise between the two leaders, but it's a fascinating relationship unfolding before our eyes. >> it certainly is unfolding before our eyes. as we await for these arrivals,

jeff is going to stay with me. i want to get to the other big breaking news this hour and that is the president today also meeting with his embattled nominee to head the department of veterans affairs, even as a source tells cnn that dr. ronny jackson is not withdrawing his nomination as of now. trump and jackson meeting in the official office this afternoon and the allegations against jackson are serious. they include excessive drinking, overprescribing medication, all of this while he led the white house medical unit, was the doctor for the president of the united states, for this president and barack obama. these allegations of course jackson has denied. and president trump making it clear today he stands by jackson, but leaving the door open for him to take an out. >> i haven't heard of the particular allegations, but i will tell you he's one of the finest people that i have met. but the fact is i wouldn't do it. i wouldn't do it. what does he need it for? to be abused by a bunch of politicians that aren't thinking nicely about our country?

i really don't think personally he should do it, but it's totally his. i would stand behind him, totally his decision. >> i wouldn't do it but you can go ahead. all right, so that's your endorsement. now, jackson for his part says he is looking forward to his hearing which has been postponed indefinitely, he says to address the allegations. >> i can answer the questions and i'm looking forward to rescheduling the hearing and answering the questions. >> the story dominating the headlines as we await the arrival for the state dinner. the jackson allegations are begging a crucial question and that is did anybody vet trump's nominee? jackson already faced opposition for lacking managerial experience which is needed to run the 400,000 people who work for the va. here's montana senator john tester talking about the drugs jackson allegedly gave out and his drinking on the job. >> we had 20 military folks and

retired military folks tell us these stories. basically that prescription drugs that will put you to sleep and of course prescription drugs that will wake you back up. he was repeatedly drunk while on duty, where his main job was to take care of the most powerful man in the world. that's not acceptable. >> so if this is out there and jon tester is talking about 20 or more people saying this, what led trump to pick jackson? here could be a clue from a fund-raiser in mar-a-lago in february. >> he's like central casting. he became like a hollywood star. he's going to leave now and go make a movie. >> and here is jackson at that infamous press conference about the president's health. >> his overall health is excellent. i told the president that if he had a healthier diet, he might live to be 200 years old, i don't know. he has incredible genes, he has incredibly good genes. that's just the way god made him. >> to be clear this is not the first time the vetting process

in trump's white house has come under fire. there was trump's first pick for labor secretary. he withdrew after he admitted hiring an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper. his ex-wife had accused him of domestic abuse which is a story she later recanted. also former judicial nominee brent talley, who defended the kkk. and matthew peterson, who struggled to answer the most basic of legal questions. >> have you ever tried a jury trial? >> i have not. >> civil? >> no. >> criminal? >> no. >> bench? >> no. >> state or federal court? >> i have not. >> he withdrew. so does trump have a vetting problem? well, that is something that a democrat and a republican agree on. >> this trump administration has done the worst job of vetting their nominees of any administration i can remember. >> this was a brutally unprofessional transition. this was a transition that

didn't vet people. >> jeff zeleny is back with me. jeff, look, this is pretty incredible when you talk about jon tester saying, look, it's 20 or more people. you're learning about an inspector general report from a few years ago about morale in the medical unit under jackson. what are you finding out. >> reporter: we are indeed, erin. the president was trying to replace his va secretary, who he had just sent on his way because of a variety of disciplinary issues and overspending so he was looking for someone in a hurry so that's why he picked ronny jackson. we have been looking through this inspector general's report this afternoon talking about morale that was very low in 2012. not just with ronny jackson but with one of his contemporaries who was there, another doctor. essentially they were feuding. on a scale of 1 to 10, the inspector general talked to everyone in the medical unit and they said the morale is at a 2. so these are the people who are required to provide medical attention to the president and vice president and other staff

here. so it was very low morale. but at that point he was promoted to head the unit and things seemed to turn around. it was essentially an office workplace issue with ronny jackson and the person who used to run the office. he was removed and ronny jackson was running it. it was to glowing reviews in the obama administration, erin. >> yes, certainly glowing reviews. i know president obama had multiple times, right, jeff, over several years recommended promoting ronny jackson. the same as president trump. they were completely in agreement on that. >> reporter: he did. and that's what the white house is releasing copies of personnel job reviews that president obama wrote in his own handwriting about how much he liked ronny jackson. interesting they are putting this out this evening. they thought he would sail through. the reality is that hasn't happened. but this is what president obama said about ronny jackson and his performance. let's take a look at this.

he said ronny does a great job. he has genuine enthusiasm. he's poised under pressure, he has incredible work ethic and follow-through. this is president obama. he goes on to say ronny continues to inspire confidence with the care he provides to me and my family and my team. continue to promote him ahead of his peers. and then he was promoted then to a rear admiral. so the reality is the bottom line here, erin, is this, this afternoon around 4:00 or so dr. jackson met privately with president trump in the oval office to talk about a way forward. president trump said you have my support if you decide to stick around. of course we heard in the press conference earlier, the president said i wouldn't blame you for not sticking around, but at this hour the president is fighting to support him. we'll see if he decides to stay, erin. a hurdle to say the least in the senate. >> certainly so. i guess the president's words being i wouldn't do it, but if you want to, i'm behind you. i suppose an endorsement although not as strong a one --

>> reporter: but they are standing behind him because they don't always do that in this administration. >> very true. thank you very much, jeff zeleny. as we await the arrival of the french president and his wife for the state dinner and the greeting, the formal groeeeting from president trump and melania trump, we'll leave that up. senator, you just heard us talk about the inspector general's report and the details from senator tester. he's saying 20 people came forward with these allegations about drinking on the job and handing out medication improperly. he was saying prescription sleeping medication and waking medication. what do you make of these allegations? >> well, i think you're seeing extensive bipartisan concern in two different ways. one is that simply a personal physician is very different than running an agency with 380,000 people on the team with complex health care management challenges throughout the nation, including the ability to recruit the doctors and the

nurses and physicians' assistants that are needed to make sure they're paid. there's so many issues that veterans are bringing up where they feel like services need to be improved. very, very different than the job he has right now. and the second is certainly had these issues not come up, we would see the -- the hearing going forward and we're not. why was it canceled by the republican chair, postponed if you will? because they feel there may be some substance. they have got to look into these issues in detail. i think that there is a real sense that there is serious weight behind the i.g. report and some of these other allegations. >> now, you know, a source tells us jackson wander the white house, look, there's the possibility disgruntled former employees would raise allegations against him. i remember this back with rob porter, a very different set of allegations. he said there may be red flags and everything seemed to proceed ahead without any issue. you heard chris christie and chuck schumer. does the white house have a

serious vetting problem? >> well, they do. they are not carefully vetting. in fact conversations i've had with my republican colleagues are that we have to double down on the investigate that we do on the committee level here because people are coming over with such poor investigation beforehand about the issues that might appear here in the senate. so it certainly slows everything down. they need to get the white house team into shape, really do the job up front before they send people over. >> does it give you pause, though? look, we know many top members of the obama administration praised dr. jackson even after his news conference about president trump's health which seemed almost farcifarcical. and then you heard jeff zeleny read one of the things barack obama had to say about ronny jackson, but he had three years of exams in which he said similar things. one of them in 2015. ronny's positive impact cannot be overstated. he's a tremendous asset to the entire white house team. already at a level of

performance and responsibility that exceeds his rank. promote to rear admiral now. look, he didn't nominate him for va secretary. i'm simply saying he didn't see anything that is now being alleged about drinking or anything like that. >> no, we didn't see any of that and the i.g. report isn't about prescribing drugs, it's not about drinking, that's coming from other folks that worked directly with him. apparently they're sharing that information with both democrats and republicans on the committee. but again, it's so different to be a personal physician an then to run a large agency. if you created a hostile work environment in a small team in the white house, what can be expected under the stress of running a very large organization? and so the lack of expertise for managing such an organization combined with the style, a style that people described as dealing with parents during a bitter divorce, that's really not what the va team needs.

we need very competent managers who know how to run a hospital and health care system. we owe our veterans nothing less than that. >> i want to ask you about some of the challenges that the president has had getting people appointed, right, and it's not all on him. earlier today he accused democrats of blocking his nominees. he was specifically citing his proposed ambassador to germany. here he is. >> we have angela merkel coming to the united states on friday. we still don't have our ambassador approved. and at this rate, and many of the papers checked it out yesterday and they actually said i was right. but it would be nine years before these people -- we have hundreds of people in waiting to be approved, and the democrats are taking 30 hours per person. they're taking the maximum time. they are obstructionists. that's very bad for our country. >> of course, senator, you formally held up that vote on richard grinnel. what's your response to the president? after all, the numbers are the

numbers. it is taking a lot longer for president trump's nominees to be confirmed than it did for either of his predecessors. >> well, my advice is don't nominate someone who has personally attacked michelle obama, who has personally attacked todcallista gingrich o the personal side, who attacked members of the press, sandra fluke. he is not a diplomat. this is someone who is full of venom, has not an atom of diplomacy in his soul, and certainly doesn't make sense to have -- >> he does know a lot about foreign policy. look, he's fiery on twitter, i've been on the receiving ending of some of that, but he's a qualified foreign policy guy. he is known as that. that's part of the reason why he had made the rounds on television. >> well, i'll ask you this, do you think republicans would be excited about supporting someone who attacked melania trump repeatedly? i think not. and so send someone over who has treated people respectfully and

decently and then let's have the conversation. >> senator, i appreciate your time tonight, thank you so much. >> you're welcome. >> of course we are still awaiting, it should be any moment now and the second it happens we'll bring it to you live. if we're in break, we'll come back to you. next, there is more trouble for another -- well, not a nominee, the sitting epa administrator in trump's cabinet, scott pruitt. republicans now backing away from pruitt. is the white house wiabout to abandon him too. plus president trump snaps over a question about pardoning his personal lawyer. we'll take you back to the white house live for the first state dinner. your company is constantly evolving. and the decisions you make have far reaching implications. the right relationship with a corporate bank who understands your industry and your world can help you make well informed choices and stay ahead of opportunities. pnc brings you the resources of one of the nation's largest banks, and a local approach with a focus on customized insights.

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all right. there you can see the president of the united states and melania trump formally there on the red carpet on the north portico of the white house for the first state dinner to honor the president of france. emmanuel macron and his wife, brigitt, who are going to be walking up. let's just watch this for a moment.

and they are now walking inside. the formal pomp and circumstance that we all like at a dinner like this, and there they go for the first formal state dinner with that arrival. here with rob astorino and keith boykin. look, it was perfectly executed, although you point out maybe the president should have buttoned his tux. i'd rather have a comment about the men's fashion being slightly off than the women's. they both looked absolutely perfect at least on the female side of things, but what do you expect from the french and a former model. they got it all right. so, look, we're going to keep monitoring this as we get more images, but another member of president trump's inner circle is facing scrutiny as this is happening, and i'm not talking about ronny jackson, i'm talking about scott pruitt, the epa

administrator, multiple investigations. a white house source telling us essentially everybody but trump wants him gone. that's the situation now. senate republicans becoming increasingly frustrated as well. manu raju is on capitol hill. manu, republican lawmakers also turning on scott pruitt who for a brief few days might have thought this problem was going away, but it got a lot bigger, frankly his own doing. >> his iron-clad support definitely weakening. republican after republican are starting to raise new concerns about the increasing revelations about ethical misconduct, about conflicts of interest, about the allegations of misusing taxpayer money, all of which pruitt has denied but which is becoming more and more damning as each report surfaces. significantly, erin, some key republicans told me earlier today that they wanted to hear more from scott pruitt, including the chairman of the very powerful senate environment and public works committee, which oversees pruitt's agency.

>> i'm curious if scott pruitt, you're concerned about these allegations? >> absolutely have concerns, a lot of questions that still need to be answered. i've been asking the questions and will continue to ask questions. >> i think they're perfectly valid questions and they need to have good answers. >> do you have confidence in him? >> i'm waiting to see what he says. >> they plan to meet with skau pruitt this week and everyone will be looking at his answers before two hearings. according to our colleagues that cover the white house for cnn, say that is a key moment about whether or not he can survive on capitol hill and whether or not the president continues to stand behind him. >> obviously significant reporting talking to republicans. thank you very much. and rob and keith are with me. keith, what do you make of this? you've got pruitt now and the problems with pruitt did not go away. i think we all sat there a few days and thought pruitt thinks

he's in the clear now, because the story went away from being the front story. but what happened is more facts came out about pruitt's behavior that have raised republican concern about pruitt. >> this is true. you know, what trump value, the reason why he stands by him is loyalty. what we see from pruitt is that he's will to go to the mat to defend trump and trump is willing to go to the mat to defend him. this is a pattern we see with other trump appointees as well. i don't think that pruitt really helps trump in any way. there's talk about even giving him a promotion. i don't think it helps him to keep him around but trump doesn't care because his base doesn't care and there's no accountability because congress isn't going to do anything about it. remember, trump came in office saying he was going to run the country like a business. but trump had no traditional business experience. he came from a family business background so he comes with no accountability in that type of business. there's no shareholders, no board of directors, he answers only to himself and he's not used to getting this type of

criticism, which is what any other ceo in this position would have been fired for what trump has done. >> you heard chris christie talking about a brutally unprofessional transition which was of course led by the president. the president, rob, had promised repeatedly, i'm going to pick the best people, the best people. here he is. >> the cabinet, we're going to have all the best people. we're going to find out who they are. >> we want experts, our finest people. we don't want b level, c level, d level, we have to get our absolute best. >> we need to get the best and the finest, and if we don't, we'll be in trouble for a long period of time. >> okay. well, i guess that could be coming true. if you're going to talk about pruitt's behavior when it comes to personal ethics and spending and playing by the rules, you know, d would be generous. >> well, you know what, someone once said to me if you're getting hit for the right reasons, keep getting hit. if "the new york times" is bashing you, you're probably doing the right thing because we're on the other side of the

philosophy of "the new york times." so pruitt, who just got excore yatd again by "the times" in their sunday edition as far as conservatives go, as far as the president goes, he's doing the right thing on policy. and whether he weather this storm or not is to be seen, but it's only one man's decision. it's not senators bloviating, it's the president. >> well, true. but people are saying, okay, policy, so who cares about personal morality, who cares about spending taxpayer money. but this is a guy who is wasting taxpayer money, spending it frivolously -- >> we can have an argument, erin. >> it's not an argument, those are facts. >> but i'm saying obama's epa administrators had security, went on trips abroad and spent a lot of money and that's part of the job. >> did they have $100,000 for private jets. >> some of them did use private jets. >> no, they didn't. >> i agree, some of those things are probably out of bounds. is it a fireable offense? >> but it's a pattern, though.

it's not just with pruitt, you saw it with ben carson and other people. ryan zinke and other people in the trump administration. and then he goes and he puts his daughter, ivanka, his son-in-law, jared, in positions of power. he puts omarosa in positions of power. trump doesn't vet anyone. he picks people that he likes, people that he sees on fox news, not people that are competent and qualified to run the government. that's a disservice to the american public. regardless of what your politics are, put your country above politics for one time. >> but it's the executive's decision to have the team he wants. if he wants to pick these people who he sees something good in and something special and could get his agenda moving, it's up to him. >> they have to be confirmed by the senate -- >> but there's nine nominees in the history of our country, the last one was 30 years ago, that did not get confirmed by the senate. >> and a lot of times they don't get confirmed because when there is heat or pressure they withdraw their nominations. >> to some extent. >> and trump has more people who have been withdrawn or threatened to withdraw because he continues to appoint people who are not qualified.

>> on jackson, before we make this into a sad country song, okay, he served bush, obama and now trump. and this is the first time we're hearing about this? if he had alcohol problems, i think we would know about that. if there was an environment he was abusive, i think we would know about that. >> bush and obama never tried to promote him. to be the secretary of veterans affairs, though, not to be the secretary of veterans affair. the largest agency in the government. >> why was he still in the white house if he was so abusive. >> those are serious questions. 20 people have come forward but you have a point, it hasn't happened before. there are questions that need to get some serious answers. >> i don't know what his history is, but there is trouble there and we need to investigate it. you should not be appointing this guy to a higher position. >> and these issues are separate, of course, from the fact that he's a doctor and this is now an organization of 400,000 people. the experience itself is separate. all right, thank you. next, president trump abandoning the nickname little

rocket man heaping praise on kim jong-un. >> he really has been very open and i think very honorable. >> and we'll take you back to the white house where trump's first state dinner is about to begin with a rather british hue to it. for all the eyes that get itchy and watery near pollen. there's flonase sensimist. it relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. no one thought much of itm at all.l people said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. they thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldn't that be cool? and that's why exxonmobil scientists think it's not small at all.

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explain, though, why he said this earlier today about the nouk no north korean dictator. here he is. >> kim jong-un was -- he really has been very open and i think very honorable from everything we're seeing. >> honorable. well, look, kim jong-un, south korea officials say ordered the killing of his half-brother, he had his uncle executed, his defense minister was killed with an anti-aircraft gun. his top education official was executed by firing squad. he has purged hundreds of officials in his own party, hundreds of thousands have been sentenced to labor camps and 70% of the population don't have enough food. senior foreign policy advisor to the romney campaign and max boot, senior fellow and columnist for "the washington

post." you guys have a lot of titles between you. >> we'll give you business cards. >> honorable? >> you know, donald trump is an extremist. he goes from one extreme to the other. a few months ago he was calling kim jong-un little rocket man and saying he was going to rain fire and fury on him, which i thought was very ill-advised, that nuclear sabre rattling. now he's gone from war mongering to this naive appeasement talking about this guy as being honorable and we're going to do a great deal together and he's agreed to denuclearization, which is not the case at all. so, you know, he's got to pick a more moderate middle centrist path that makes sense instead of swinging from these extremes that are just incredibly harmful and damaging to u.s. credibility. >> it seems also perhaps -- the fbi director, jim comey is a slime ball, hillary clinton is the devil, joe biden is crazy, but kim jong-un is honorable. >> he's handed a massive

propaganda victory to kim jong-un, gnnot just by this rhetoric, but by agreeing to meet him face to face. keep in mind here we are in the context of the discussions about the iran deal certification or getting out of the iran deal. so kim jong-un if he stopped the process now, the fact the president said he wants to meet with him, he's an honorable and transparent man, kim jong-un can say, i know where the president is heading on the iran deal, this is not someone i want to deal with, i've got my propaganda victory. he's sitting there praising me. >> when you think about what president trump says about the iran deal with all of it's weaknesses, it was a deal made with a power that wanted to be nuclear. and trump is now talking about doing the same thing. can you imagine if barack obama had started talking about the leaders of iran as honorable? >> right. >> there would have been an outrage. >> conservatives would have been apoplectic. barack obama saying he would

meet with them and even hillary clinton was attacking him for that. that is what trump is doing now and it's hilarious that trump and his defenders are saying this is a huge diplomatic victory when the reality is any previous president could have met with him, any dictator of north korea would be delighted to meet with an american president because it legitimates them. >> they are saying there will be some preconditions. >> they are saying there will be some. >> there will be some preconditions which is different from what president obama said. but there's a reason why three administrations from both political parties never met with the north korean leader face to face. >> and the north koreans made promise after promise after promise. and the president is quick to say that is what iran is going to do but north korea is going to be this honorable player. >> it doesn't make any sense. >> let me just play what he said about the iran deal because he was blasting it with macron, but

then he appeared to backtrack on that and saying, europe, i'll work with you on a solution. it was sort of a -- you know, give you a little bit of a -- trying to think of the right word. but your head is spinning around. here he is. >> it's insane, it's ridiculous, it should have never been made. i think we're fairly close to understanding each other. >> insane, ridiculous, we're getting close to understanding each other. >> i actually think on this one, what the president will achieve is better than the status quo. >> you do? okay. >> yes, because the europeans now are begging the u.s. to stay in the deal. the president has laid out certain conditions he wants to toughen the deal. and it seems like what macron is here doing is trying to save the deal, so to speak, by keeping the u.s. in it. >> so you're saying the europeans might keep the u.s. in -- >> he wants fixes on inspections and how to address the sunset clause. he's basically said to the europeans you have between now and may 12th to come back with telling me how you're going to address my concerns.

if you do, i'll stay in the deal. again, i have serious questions about -- meaning if the u.s. pulls out of the deal what happens the day after. i don't think it's going to get to that. but if the europeans come back with a proposal to toughen the deal, this may work. >> well, remember, that the u.s. and europeans are not the only parties to the deal. i think it will be very hard to adjust the deal because you have to have the iranians, russians and chinese go along. you might see an agreement reached between the u.s. and europe to say if iran, for example, continues testing long-range ballistic missiles that the u.s. and europe will impose sanctions and trump and macron can say this is part of the deal but technically won't be part of the deal. >> but they could do it anyway. >> it won't be part of the deal. however, it could conceivably constrain iranian behavior once the deal expires because their economy is tanking, their currency is going down the tube. >> it's not a bad thing, but it's not that trump is going to be able to adjust the deal. >> but i do think it will be a

net positive, better than the status quo. >> we'll leave it on that agreement. thank you. next, president trump slamming a reporter's question about whether he'll pardon his lawyer, michael cohen. but what's his answer to the question, and jeanne moos on that hat everyone is talking about. when trying to save for the big things in life, we tend to start small. less of this. cut back on that. but if it feels like a lot of effort for a little gain, change that. start with something that makes a big difference... ...your student loans. refinancing with sofi could save you $30,000. it's an easier way to reach your life goal sooner. we've helped over 195,000 people. we want to help you too. find out how much you can save in just two minutes at sofi.com/save.

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new tonight president trump sn dismissing a question about whether he would pardon his lawyer, michael cohen, claiming it was a stupid question. >> let's go. >> stupid question. >> did you see emmanuel macron's eyebrows go up? here's the thing, it's not a stupid question because dangling a pardon can influence someone to stay loyal and president trump has been greasing the wheels with michael cohen. he said "the new york times" was trying to destroy cohen and his relationship with trump. he liked and respected cohen. sarah sanders refused to rule out a possible pardon for cohen just yesterday. >> it was noticed by some that you didn't close the door one way or the other on the president pardoning michael cohen.

who is your -- what's your read on that right now? >> it's hard to close the door on something that hasn't taken place. i don't like to discuss or comment on hypothetical situations that may or may not ever happen. >> out front now, the former assistant attorney for the southern district of new york, where of course the criminal investigation of michael cohen in and harry cordero. the president says asking about pardoning michael cohen is stupid but he pardoned scooter libby, joe arpaio. putting out a tweet about pardoning a boxer who died just the other day. if cohen knows a pardon would be coming if he were charged and convicted, which has not happened at this point, he might be less likely to say bad things about the president. is the question stupid? >> it's not stupid. the potential for a pardon could influence somebody's testimony and because the president keeps talking about pardons. that's why he got the question

today. what's important here is that there is actually a pardon process in the department of justice that in normal times people go through. if you want a pardon, there's a way you can get one. but this extra process that the president is putting on where a film actor can call up and say pardon this person, or someone who's giving him legal advice can say pardon my other client. that's not normal. that's not how the pardon process is supposed to work. when you don't have a functioning pardon process, people will assume it's done for a bad reason. >> so, carrie, these are all real concerns but i know you say you can understand why trump is frustrated about the cohen questions right now. >> i understand why he's frustrated if there really is no discussion in the white house at all about issuing a pardon for michael cohen. so we don't know whether or not because sarah sanders won't answer the question whether or not this is actually something under discussion in the white house. if it's not at all and this is just conjecture, then i could understand his frustration.

but it's no surprise that you've got two former doj people who are going to talk about policy process, because harry is absolutely right. one of the reasons i think this question keeps coming up is pause in the aur prpaio and lib cases, the president abandoned the normal policy process through the review that would normally take place from the justice department over to the white house. and so then that leaves observers to wonder, well, if he abandoned the normal policy process that would consider pardons in those cases, then who's to say that he wouldn't just up and do something in this particular case. so it's that abandonment of process that i think is causing so much questioning and concern. >> which you both share. now, harry, i talked to victoria ta tonseng, scooter libby's attorney and asked if president trump is trying to send a message with that pardon and other pardons he's talking about. >> don't try to read that message into it.

i saw him and talked to him when he gave scooter libby a pardon and he was thrilled. >> is he trying to send a signal to cohen? >> no, i'm telling you he got a thrill from giving scooter a pardon. and i would think that anybody who could take back, you know, a crime for a black and white woman marrying, that that would thrill me to be able to give a pardon for that. >> do you think the president is trying to send a message, whether it be to michael cohen or paul manafort or anybody else with all of this sort of out of left field talk about pardons? >> it certainly looks that way, and appearances matter for the reasons that carrie said a moment ago. when you're not following the process, appearances matter. to be sure, the president gets a thrill from issuing a pardon. it's a constitutional right that presidents have because the king of england used to have it. that's why the president has it. but it's not one that should be exercise ed kp ed capriciously

bad purpose. >> the whole russia situation, the russian government allegedly, right, jim comey has talked about this, taped donald trump watching prostitutes urinating in a hotel in moscow. the president said no way this happened because i didn't spend the night in moscow so there's no way this would have happened. and this is something that jim comey said the president told him directly. here is the president. >> i didn't ask about business with the prostitutes. but he launched into explanation about how i should know it wasn't true. and i remember thinking should i say, that as i understand the activity sir, doesn't require an overnight stay. >> i don't know if he was somewhat trying to make a joke. bloomberg is looking into the

flight records, the records show. didn't leave moscow around 4:00 a.m. on monday morning. so he was there on friday night. how much legal trouble could this present the president? >> it is interesting to see if cnn and other outlets could verify. make a point of saying that the president made effort to try to convince him that he wasn't there that night. here is why it matters from the bigger russia investigation. the reason this issue is even discussed is because it goes to the question of whether or not there was something that this foreign nation had an ability to blackmail the president in some way and whether or not that has affected his behavior in office. so that's, it is a salacious issue, a salacious allegation,

but from a counterintelligence perspective and investigative perspective, that is why it is relevant. >> it is significant despite how strange it. next, not inviting any members of congress, democrats, that is to tonight's dinner. only republicans. and it is not the only protocol that they are breaking. plus, jeanne moos on the bro mans otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, ... with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur.

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breaking news president trump's first state dinner. the trump is greeting the macrons. the two leaders will deliver a toast shortly as part of protocol. maybe a thank you from the first lady. white house reporter kate bennett is out front. the eyes of the world are on these two couples tonight. >> reporter: everyone was anxious to see what melania trump was going to wear. it is channel. this is different an homage. and i think this is a sign that

melania trump is coming into her own. she is willing to steal the scene. she has planned every detail for tonight's events. from the seat cushion to the music playing. this is a big moment for melania trump. >> and getting a lot of credit today. how involved was she? >> she didn't hire an event planner. melania trump said no to that. she said she wanted to do it herself with her small team, social secretary and the white house staff. it has taken her months. she has done a lot of research. using the clinton china, the clinton plates that are gold on the rim. and some of the bush glassware. certainly done an homage of cherry blossoms by lining the

halls with 1,200 stems. detail.d attention to every - i got into the room with a sneak peak and it did look beautiful. everything is gold. it had a feel of trumpiness if you will. >> her husband is attending and we know he would want gold at the very least. any idea of the toast will bring? >> i am sure well wishes and warmth between the two countries. we aren't sure what the president would say. we do know as you said, these two gentlemen have been getting along. a bromance between the two. it is going to be a friendly evening. not a lot of democrats in the house as we saw the guest list. however very trump friendly room. >> one known democrat, a

governor. thank you very much. and something to watch tonight, president trump's very special relationship with emmanuel macron. >> these two just can't quit each other when it comes to public displays of affection. >> thank you. >> i like him a lot. >> get a room. actually, they did. the oval office. >> you are a special friend. >> president trump and president macron, didn't just shake hands, they had to add a pat or a hand on the back. they stared into each other's eyes and uttered sweet nothings. >> emanuel and myself. >> dialogue out of a bromance

novel. >> the french president even tweeted their clasped hands. >> one world leader grooming the other? >> we do have a special relationship. in fact i will get a piece of dandruff off. >> the first lady was less accessible. her hat made attempts to air kiss even a wider miss than usual. tweeted one critic, that hat is called the trump repellent hat. ♪ >> but the president's couldn't keep their hands apart. all the hugging left them so

happy that president trump missed a slap. the french disconnection rare for these two. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> at least macron will hold his hand. thanks for joining us. anderson starts now. we begin tonight keeping them honest with some simple questions. if the president hires only the best people, why aren't they still on the job? why are others serving under ethical clouds. why facing so much difficulty. creating a toxic work